''Rhynchocorys'' is a small genus of flowering plants belonging to the family ''

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family (biology), family of mostly parasitic plants of the order (biology), order Lamiales, with about 90 genus, genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', ...

''. It was formerly classified in the family

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

. It is native to Europe, Morocco and Algeria.

Etymology

The genus name ''Rhynchocorys'' derives from the two

ancient greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words (), meaning "snout, muzzle, nose", and (), meaning "helmet, head", which is a reference to the shape of the

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

Phylogeny

The phylogeny of the genera of

Rhinantheae Rhinantheae is a tribe with fewer than 20 genera of herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Phylogeny The phylogeny of the genera of Rhinantheae has been explored using DNA markers. Three assemblages can be distinguished in this trib ...

has been explored using molecular characters. ''Rhynchocorys'' is the sister genus to ''

Lathraea ''Lathraea'' (toothwort) is a small genus of five to seven species of flowering plants, native to temperate Europe and Asia. They are parasitic plants on the roots of other plants, and are completely lacking chlorophyll. They are classified in th ...

'' and ''

Rhinanthus ''Rhinanthus'' is a genus of annual parasitic plant, hemiparasitic herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae, formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae. Its species are commonly known as rattles. The genus consists of about 30 to 40 ...

''. These three genera share phylogenetic affinities with members of the core Rhinantheae: ''

Bartsia ''Bartsia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Etymology ''Bartsia'' was named after Johann Bartsch (Latinized as Johannes Bartsius, 1709-1738), a botanist of Königsberg. The plant was named for him by his associate ...

'', ''

Euphrasia ''Euphrasia'', or eyebright, is a genus of about 215 species of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are P ...

'', ''

Tozzia ''Tozzia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants within the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. It contains a unique species, ''Tozzia alpina''. While the plant in its young, vegetative stage is holoparasite, it becomes hemiparasite in its flow ...

'', ''

Hedbergia ''Hedbergia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants, initially classified in Scrophulariaceae, and now within the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. It contains a unique species, ''Hedbergia abyssinica''. It is an afromontane genus, widesprea ...

'', '' Bellardia'', and ''

Odontites ''Odontites'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Phylogeny The phylogeny of the genera of Rhinantheae has been explored using molecular characters. ''Odontites'' belongs to the core Rhinantheae. It is the sister genus to ...

''. ''

Melampyrum ''Melampyrum'' is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae known commonly as cow wheat. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are parasite, hemiparasites on other plan ...

'' appears as a more distant relative.

Taxonomy

The genus was described in 1844 by

August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach (; 17 April 18149 May 1879) was a German botanist and phytogeographer. Biography Grisebach studied at the Lyceum in Hanover, the cloister-school at Ilfeld, and the University of Göttingen. He graduated in medi ...

. The type species is ''Rhynchocorys elephas''.

Species

According to the Plant List, 8 species are recognized in the genus ''Rhynchocorys'': * '' Rhynchocorys boissieri'' Post * '' Rhynchocorys elephas'' (L.) Griseb. * '' Rhynchocorys intermedia'' Albov * '' Rhynchocorys kurdica'' Nábělek * '' Rhynchocorys maxima'' Richt. ex Stapf, possibly to be reduced under synonymy of ''R. elephas'' * '' Rhynchocorys odontophylla'' R.B.Burb. & I.Richardson * '' Rhynchocorys orientalis'' Benth. * '' Rhynchocorys stricta'' Albov

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10360427 Orobanchaceae genera Parasitic plants Orobanchaceae Taxa named by August Grisebach